Romania-based project management company Optim PM has opened a branch in Belgrade to expand its services on the Southeast European real estate market.

The Q4 2020 results of the RICS Global Commercial Property Monitor continue to point to a challenging backdrop across Europe. Both the office and retail sectors remain under significant pressure, with demand still falling sharply amid the difficult economic climate induced by the pandemic. On a brighter note, supported by structural tailwinds, the industrial sector continues to defy this downbeat overall assessment, prompting respondents to upgrade expectations for rental and capital value growth.

Swedish furniture group Ikea is set to open its first store in Slovenia in Ljubljana today. To ensure a safe shopping experience and avert long queues in front of the store, Ikea has mandated advanced bookings for in-person shopping in the first weeks following the opening. The number of visitors is capped at 700 with Ikea estimating that they will spend roughly two hours on average browsing around the store.

The industrial segment has stood out as the most resilient sector to the crisis and the markets Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria present a huge opportunity for further growth. Boško Tomašević MRICS, Managing Director SEE at CBRE talked to Property Forum about investment market expectations and shared the company’s expansion plans for the Balkans region.

Construction has started on the Pyramid of Tirana, the brutalist monument in the heart of Albania’s capital city. Rotterdam-based architectural studio MVRDV's design will see this crucial heritage building, once the showpiece of Communist dictator Enver Hoxha, dramatically renovated. The concrete structure will be reused, the atrium and its surroundings greened and opened, and a small village of cafes, studios, workshops, and classrooms – where Albanian youth will learn various technology subjects for free – will permeate the site, both inside and outside the pyramid itself. The Pyramid is thus expected to become a new hub for Tirana's cultural life and a carrier for the new generation.

Marera Real Estate Partners, a sister company of Marera Properties, has acquired the historical landmark of the publishing house BIGZ built in 1941. This monumental property spreads across over 40,000 sqm. With an investment of over €40 million, it will be turned into a modern business centre over an 18 month period of time. For project implementation, Marera Real Estate Partners is joining forces with Aleksandar gradnja, a company with proven expertise in residential development.

The total investment volume achieved in 2020 in the SEE region amounted to €766 million representing a 17% decline in transaction volume in comparison to the year before, according to CBRE’s market report summarising H2 2020 on the investment market.

Imel Group has started the construction of the Green Escape business complex in New Belgrade’s block 51, right next to the highway. The complex will comprise three plots intended for business and commercial facilities, on which the construction of multifunctional business facilities is planned. The construction of the complex started in December last year, it will be performed in three phases and the total area of ​​the planned facilities is 65,569 sqm.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, dealmakers are broadly positive about the prospects for M&A in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (CEE/SEE), according to a new survey from Wolf Theiss and Mergermarket. Just over half (52%) of respondents said that the health crisis will increase their appetite for deals in the next 12 months.

Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk (Tricity) and Wrocław are among the top ten markets for hotel operators in Central and Eastern Europe and in Southern and Eastern Europe, making Poland the regional leader. Hotel operators are also targeting other regional cities across Poland, says global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.